Category: <span>General</span>

*The Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues held a public meeting on August 19-20 in Philadelphia. The Bioethics Commission advises the President on bioethical issues arising from advances in biomedicine and related areas of science and technology. It seeks to identify and promote policies and practices that ensure scientific research, health care delivery,...

As of this writing, former South African President Nelson Mandela remains in critical, but stable condition as he enters his second month in hospital. Court documents say he is breathing with the help of a respirator, and receiving dialysis. There are hopes that Mandela will recover, but based on the little public information available, there...

If well-done burgers or charred hotdogs are your thing, you might want to read this: Regularly consuming well-done or charred meat may increase your risk of developing pancreatic cancer by up to 60 percent, according to a University of Minnesota study. So this means that ruining a piece of meat isn’t the only thing you...

“The moral test of government is how it treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the aged; and those in the shadows of life, the sick, the needy and the handicapped.”   I have just recently returned from a week-long trip to Havana,...

    It’s no secret that for years, low-income communities of color have suffered as grocery stores and fresh, affordable food disappeared from their neighborhoods. But few of us stop and take note of what this is doing to our children. I have become increasingly concern about the health of our young people. As we continue to...

  With a growing number of foods boasting added caffeine for an energy boost, the Food and Drug Administration says it’s time to investigate their safety. Companies adding caffeine to their products have labeled them as for adult use only. Not much is known about the effects of caffeine on children’s health. The only time FDA...

  Epidemic: Spreading rapidly and extensively by infection and affecting many individuals in an area or a population at the same time.        While bullies, gangs, weapons, and substance abuse all contribute to the fear experienced by many of today’s students, violence in America’s neighborhoods and communities cannot be overlooked. More than ever before,...

It is undeniable that drugs do save lives, but few prescription medications are completely free of risks or side effects. Naturally, the more drugs that are taken at the same time, the greater the risk of adverse interactions and potentially devastating side effects. People 65-years and older are the largest consumers of prescription and nonprescription...

A disturbing email from a friend in an African country has moved me to address an issue that I written about: Black people; attitudes on mistrust; and the subsequent impact on benefiting from developments in medical treatment. Compounding the problem, diverse patients (especially Blacks) are historically underrepresented in clinical research. The shortage of minority participants...

Many older people worry about becoming more forgetful. They think forgetfulness is the first sign of Alzheimer’s disease. In the past, memory loss and confusion were considered a normal part of aging. Most people remain both alert and able as they age, although it may take them longer to remember things. The term dementia describes...